Instigator Blog

I’m a podcasting newbie. No question about it.

I’ve recorded 7 episodes of The Great Big Small Business Show, and I’ve worked on mixing in the music for the last couple shows.

It’s been a lot of fun, interesting and a great learning experience. Before that, I had listened to a handful of podcasts but I hadn’t really gotten into it. Working with Chris Brogan and others, including the great group at Grasshopper New Media, I’ve jumped in with both feet and I can’t wait to see where this whole podcasting thing takes me.

In the meantime, if you’re thinking about doing a podcast or you’ve just started one, here are 5 lessons I’ve learned as a podcasting newbie:

1. The technology requirements are not overwhelming. I’m using a $40 Logitech camera w/ built-in microphone and the open source, free software Audacity. The sound isn’t perfect but I think it’s good enough at this point, and it would be for those of you looking to dip a toe into the podcasting waters.
2. Have a script, but don’t read it. I haven’t been enamored with some of the podcasts where the people “just talk” … it becomes rambling, and while radio talk show people might do a good job of it, there’s a certain amount of skill involved. I think a script is important, especially if you’re going to be providing advice, doing step-by-step or how-to type podcasts. Just don’t read it blandly. Try and use the script as a guide, but make the podcast feel as natural as possible. Think of it like public speaking (cause it is, without having to think of the audience in underwear, unless you want to…)
3. Promoting a podcast is very similar to promoting a blog. For example, there are plenty of podcast directories (although the primo one in this case is iTunes.) Getting links from other blogs/sites is critical. Writing good show notes that you publish online is helpful, so search engines have something to spider when looking around. Get on Technorati, etc. So there’s lots of similarities between promoting a blog and a podcast; since in many ways a podcast is a blog…just an audio one. There are podcast info books that can help too..
4. Listen to as much as you can. There are many podcasts out there. Upwards of 50,000 if not more at this point. And there are podcasts on lots of subjects (although I think there are plenty of niches left to fill.) And podcasts aren’t just for techno-geeks, marketing gurus or people interested in the latest news. Did you know there was a podcast out there by parents for parents with kids that have learning disabilities?
5. Tracking stats is far from a perfect science. Tracking web traffic to a site or blog is quite evolved. There are some great, free tools out there like Google Analytics. But what about tracking your podcast audience? It’s not quite there yet. Services like PodTractor exist (although I haven’t used it yet), and if you’re using WordPress there’s the PodPress plugin…but there’s still more to be done in this field. It seems the bulk of podcast listeners do so via RSS feeds (same as a blog), and FeedBurner has a feature for making sure the feed is “iTunes-friendly” — so I would recommend FeedBurner. Plus, FeedBurner helps you track the number of subscribers you have, giving you some sense of the audience size.
6. Podcasting requires plenty of planning and solid execution. No surprise here, planning and execution are important in anything. With podcasting, the planning comes in terms of thinking about the overall show and episodes (if you’re just starting out, see if you can’t plan out 5-10 of them so you see what’s taking shape), and organizing to have decent hardware in place. Plus, some planning is needed when it comes to things like publishing and promotion. As for execution, some will say “content is king”, which ultimately is true…but, people will also say that production values have to be as high as possible. That means making sure the audio is consistent (not too loud or too soft and not jumping around), your voice is clear, music is well integrated. Ultimately, the barriers to entry are a bit higher than blogging but not that much more. And there’s always room for improvement; so if things start off shaky but are heading in the right direction, you’ll win people over.

Podcasting is a lot of fun. I enjoy recording segments for The Great Big Small Business Show and I enjoy listening to what so many talented people are bringing to the table. Plus, I think there’s an enormous business opportunity with podcasting … even for newbies like me.

StumbleUpon is cool. And fun. And interesting.

It took me awhile to finally give it a try, but after a bit of cajoling from Chris Cree and a sizeable boost in traffic over the last week to my side project Where Is Basil I jumped in.

StumbleUpon allows you to discover new and worthwhile websites. It’s based on a simple rating system. Other users flag a website as something they like or don’t like. When you “stumble” (i.e. click the stumble button in the StumbleUpon toolbar you have to install in Firefox or IE) you’ll only see sites that others have flagged positively. These people might be in your network of StumbleUpon friends or like-minded stumblers; those that have indicated they share similar interests.

You can pick the categories of sites you’re interested in, and the toolbar installation is dead simple.

Each person gets their own StumbleUpon page that lists the pages they’ve rated, reviewed, etc.

I’ve spent the last couple of days stumbling around, and I’ve found a host of interesting sites. I’ve flagged a few as sites I like, and reviewed a site or two as well.

I haven’t really explored all of the networking features and opportunities with StumbleUpon, but I hope to over the coming days. And we’ll see what happens in terms of connecting with others and growing traffic to IGotNewsForYou and Where Is Basil.

In the meantime, I’d recommend you give it a try. The Web is a big place. Ya, that’s obvious, but I think you’ll be surprised just how much is out there that’s interesting and worthwhile (and not necessarily that easy to find on search engines.)

What I find even more intriguing about StumbleUpon is that they already have a business model in place. They accept advertising (but not in the traditional banner ad way) and they offer a premium service. When you advertise, it looks like they push out your site to people stumbling around that have expressed an interest in your site’s category. They will identify your site as a sponsor so there’s no secrecy involved, and I think this model makes complete sense. I’d say that StumbleUpon’s business model is further evolved than most social bookmarking sites, and that has to bode well for them.

I don’t know how well StumbleUpon is doing, but I’d be curious to find out…

Enjoy! And let me know what you think of StumbleUpon if you’ve used it already or try it after this.

At the beginning of June, I found GoodSearch. It’s a search engine that donates approximately 1 penny to the charity of your choice each time you run a search. The results are powered by Yahoo.

I said I would use it for awhile to try it out and I’ve done that intermittently. It’s hard to stop going to Google though.

I’m going to keep using it (when I remember) and I still love the idea behind it, even if it has its naysayers. The results are as good as any (it’s powered by Yahoo not some backwater search engine company) and you also won’t get any contextual ads on the results page (makes for a slightly cleaner interface.)

In the meantime, just yesterday I was made aware of Blingo (from Steve Poland’s blog: Ideas are Worthless Unless Acted Upon. Note: While I disagree with the sentiment that ideas are worthless, he’s got a great blog that’s worth reading.)

Blingo is a search engine that occasionally selects a random winner who has just performed a search. Prizes include movie tickets, Visa gift cards, iTunes gift certificates, etc. So the prizes are definitely worthwhile for just searching.

Blingo is tied to Publishers Clearing House (although that wasn’t always the case.)

The search is powered by Google (so like GoodSearch there’s no problem with respect to the results being crappy.) Unlike GoodSearch there are sponsored ads that appear (which is how they make their money.)

Note: You can only win if you live in the United States, so for me Blingo doesn’t hold much appeal, except for the basis of this question:

Which is better? Winning prizes or donating to charity?

What do I mean by better? You tell me. But here’s some questions to spur discussion:

1. Which one would you be more interested in using? Search for charity or search for prizes?

2. Which holds more “buzz-potential” or more “viral-potential”?

3. Which model (winning prizes/contests/sweepstakes or donating money to a good cause) could be more effective for your business?

4. How might you implement either approach?

Please, let me know what you think.

[tags]goodsearch, search engines, yahoo, google, donating money, buzz marketing, charity, viral marketing[/tags]